


26 Days of Cecil and Carlos

by MaddeningNoise



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: 26 Days of Cecilos, Alternate Universe, Cecil/Carlos - Freeform, Drabbles, Established Relationship, M/M, NVCR, Night Vale, One Shot, Podcast, Radio, argument, cecil palmer - Freeform, cecilos - Freeform, one shots are unrelated, wtnv - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-15
Updated: 2017-10-11
Packaged: 2018-12-15 20:47:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 1,646
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11813889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaddeningNoise/pseuds/MaddeningNoise
Summary: 26 one shots and drabbles about Cecil Palmer and Carlos the Scientist, one for each letter of the alphabet.





	1. Argument

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone. I'm back and writing Cecil and Carlos again, of course. I wanted to write a bit, since I've been a bit out of practice over the summer, so here we are.

Their first argument is over something stupid. Cecil doesn’t even remember what it was.

What he does remember is the aftermath.

Carlos had stormed out of the house during the argument, the door slamming behind him as he pulled his long, white lab coat on over his flannel shirt. Cecil collapses backward onto Carlos’ bed and pulls a pillow onto his chest, gripping it tightly and pressing his face into it. As the first tears threaten to leave his eyes, he hears the front door close again, followed by shuffling in the kitchen.

Carlos enters his bedroom minutes later with a cup of black coffee and a sheepish expression. He presses the mug in Cecil’s hands, and moves to the other side of the room. Cecil doesn’t turn to look, but a moment later, a blanket is thrown over his shoulders and Carlos is seated next to him on the bed.

“I’m sorry.” He says, putting a hand over Cecil’s knee, the way he had a few months previously, under the lights over the Arby’s. “I overreacted. I didn’t mean what I said.”

Cecil takes a sip from his mug and sets it aside. The coffee burns his tongue and makes more tears spring to his eyes. He leans onto Carlos’ shoulder. “I’m sorry too.” He says softly. “And I forgive you.”

They sit there for a while in peaceful silence for a while before Cecil speaks again. “Not that I’m not glad you’re back.” Cecil murmurs. “But why so soon? I expected you to be gone all night after that.”

Carlos chuckles. “Well, It’s easier to storm out when you’re not storming out of your own house.”

Cecil giggles tearily, then hiccups. They sit there like that for a while longer.

“Also.” Carlos begins awkwardly. “Meghan, from the Sheriff’s Secret police practically shoved me back into the house. She says she could hear us through the microphone in the lamp and was not about to let us be mad at each other over this.”

Cecil giggles again, more cheerily this time. “I should bake her cookies to say thank you.”

Carlos smiles. “With your baking? Maybe not.”

The pair of them giggle again. Cecil wipes his eyes as Carlos presses a kiss into the top of his head, and the argument is forgiven and forgotten.


	2. Boyfriend

There are significant times Carlos has been referred to as Cecil’s boyfriend. It’s a description that slips off his tongue as easily as his own name now, but once, it was a term that seemed bizarre in relation to himself and the creepy radio host that seemed totally infatuated with him and content with the whole of the surrounding area knowing it. 

The first time Carlos hears the word “boyfriends” to describe himself and Cecil, he’s not all that interested in hearing it.  
It’s their second week in Night Vale, and Carlos and his team of scientists are working hard on studying all of the different anomalies they’ve discovered in the town. The lab is filled with whirring instruments and bubbling beakers, and white lab coated scientists hunched over them. Carlos enters the lab with a newspaper and a pile of papers with measurements and data hastily scribbled on them in his untidy scrawl. A radio is playing in the corner, and Cecil Palmer’s voice is floating through it. His team’s heads swivel toward him as one as he enters, and Carlos looks away, turning red. They’re taken a special interest in teasing him about Cecil’s interest in him whenever they get the chance. 

“What took so long, Carlos?” asks Jason, one of the geologists on the team, in a chipper tone. “Take a detour to see your boyfriend?” 

A few of the younger surrounding scientists snicker, while Carlos ducks his head and allows his hair to fall over his reddening cheeks.   
“What’s taking so long on those readings, Jason?” He asks, and it’s Jason’s turn to go red. 

The geologist turns back to his work as Carlos moves across the room to his radio, shuts it off, and moves it to his office. As he’s closing the door, he sticks his head back out to speak to the lab as a whole. 

“He’s not my boyfriend.” He says defiantly, wishing his voice sounded more firm.   
He closes the door to more muffled snickers. 

The second time, “boyfriend” would be an appropriate term for himself and Cecil, he’s just not used to hearing it yet. Cecil is gleefully describing their second date, on the radio, and the word boyfriend slips into his speech so easily that Carlos almost misses it. When what Cecil said catches up to him, he nearly knocks over the beaker in front of him. He smiles, staring at the radio next to him fondly.

“Boyfriend” will be something to get used to. When Cecil gets to his lab after his show, Carlos kisses him briefly and pulls back to a look of delighted surprise. 

“Not that I object to that sort of greeting.” Cecil says. “But what was that for?”

Carlos smiles back. “I’m just glad to see my boyfriend.” 

Cecil’s delighted smile grows impossibly wider.


	3. Cuddling

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yikes. So much for 26 days.

One of the first things Cecil learns about Carlos when they start dating is that the scientist is a cuddler. The second Cecil sits or lays down, Carlos fills the available space next to him and the two are completely intertwined before Cecil can say a word. He doesn't mind at all, of course. Holding Carlos in his arms is often the highlight of his day. 

It started slowly, when Carlos sat so close their thighs were pressed together on the hood of his car, feet tangled, and Carlos’ hand on Cecil’s knee. Cecil leans his head up against Carlos’ shoulder and the two stare up at the mysterious lights over the Arby’s. It was the comfort Cecil needed after believing the man he loved was dead. Feeling him under his head, solid, breathing, and blessedly alive was the conclusion Cecil needed to the scientist's near death. Despite his relief on air, he had not truly recovered from his belief that Carlos was dead until the moment Carlos had appeared at the station. 

Since that night outside the radio station, the frequency of Carlos’ cuddling has only grown. Carlos wraps himself around Cecil when they fall asleep at night, Cecil gladly returning the gesture. On the rare nights when one of them works late and they fall asleep separately, Cecil wakes up with Carlos wrapped around him, regardless of who fell asleep first. Cecil stays very still in Carlos’ arms until the scientist wakes up, then twists himself around to kiss the scientist gently on the lips. When they can afford to, they stay there, tangled together, kissing and wrapped up in each other. It's how they recover after a bad day, a fight, a city wide emergecy or simply unwind after a long week. It's the moment Cecil treasures most.


	4. Death

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spoilers in this chapter. As you can probably tell, this chapter is going to be a bit of a downer.

For Cecil, Old Woman Josie’s death was incredibly difficult. The woman was like a grandmother or great aunt to him. She had taught him to bowl when he was nine, had patiently allowed him to tell her the stories about his boy scouts adventures (at least, the ones that he hadn’t been classified), had celebrated with him when he got the job as Radio Host, and had comforted him during Carlos’ year away in the desert otherworld. 

She was an important part of the community, a role model to many, though she had become less so in the wake of the arrival of the angels and her outspoken and very public belief in them despite the threats she received from city council and the Sheriff's secret police. Her death, though expected and long coming, had caused terrible suffering for Cecil. Carlos was by his side all the way through his mourning, listening to his stories about Josie and holding him while he cried, any time of day or night. Carlos was careful of Cecil’s emotional state all the way through, and on the mornings when Cecil woke up alone after Carlos had gone to work, he always found a comforting note underneath a hot cup of freshly brewed coffee. Everything Carlos did for Cecil in these weeks of mourning were thoughtful, and they’re why Cecil feels lucky to be able to call Carlos his husband.


	5. Eternal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In which Cecil is nearly immortal and Carlos may not be.

Cecil knows it’s possible that he will one day be without Carlos. He’s known it since the day Carlos shared his findings on the average lifespan of a Night Vale citizen. Barring any tragic but to be expected accidents, people in Night Vale typically live for a period of time far extending the average lifespan of a non-Night Valian. The outside world's expected lifespan is lower than Night Vale’s, but in the event that citizens of the city get through boy scouts, school, and at least five street cleaning days, their chances of a supernaturally long lifespan drastically increase. 

Carlos and his team of scientists aren’t sure why. It may be enough to live within the city limits, and the small group of outsiders will live a very long time. Time is weird in Night Vale; Carlos has known it since day one. He knows that, if he were to return to the outside world, everyone he knows may be significantly older than him despite their actual age difference. Even a day trip outside of Night Vale, and he could return a to find everything a year older than it had been when he left. There's no logic to time or life in Night Vale, and Carlos finds it fascinating and frustrating and terrifying, all at the same time. 

Cecil could lose him someday. He could lose Cecil someday. Cecil could fall victim to one of Night Vale's many dangers. They both could. So they cherish every day, spend every moment they can together.


End file.
